Not Meant to Be
by 4dimensional
Summary: In the world of advanced technology and medicine, people no longer choose who they get to marry. It's a complicated system that the government has set up. Emery has turned eighteen and gets the ability to court. The person she chooses is an unlikely partner that isn't in her match list. Will she tame this free spirit that wants to defy the system? Will he learn to love her? R
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I sat in the plush leather chair as a sales specialist wrote notes penetratingly. There had been numerous tests and inventories I had to take, before I could be presented with the item I was going to buy. This was the best place in town to get what I was looking for. They offered me champagne and strawberries as I waited. I looked out at the elegant store crowded with people. There were people of all different sizes, shapes, ethnicities, and class. I looked down at my cocktail dress and knew I would be taken seriously. Who want to be taken seriously when they were shopping for a man? Now, before you go all 'she's a hooker' on me let me explain a few things to you.

First, my name is Emery Whitehall and I'm eighteen years old. I live in a world that has made what people used to call marriage illegal. There are a lot of things illegal now days. I guess I should start with saying that every person not a Beau has to get a Beau at his or her eighteenth birthday. We don't have to be wed to them that day, because those of us not Beaus have to go to college. We are assigned our destiny when we are 12. They give us a series of ability and IQ tests to determine what we succeed at. Get this; some people what to be Beaus! I don't necessarily want to go into college for law, but I wouldn't want to be a Beau. Oh, only certain wedded couples are allowed to have children, lucky for some and unfortunate for others.

How does this crazy, messed up system work? Well, each year the government holds a population count and determines how many children are allowed to be born. Wedded couples have already been selected based upon their DNA, careers, and personality. That way the can guarantee successful individuals in society. They don't give the statistics of how many of those aren't successful, but I can imagine there are a lot. So, it's not fool proof and it's insanity but I was manufactured by the system and have to put up with it.

That is how I got here at Etada, the most expensive human-mart in New York City. My parent's were part of a wealthy society in New York and I went to a private prep school. There are many things that are normal about our society. There's still a high school social hierarchy. There's still the 1% that live in a reality TV show, but we all share one thing in common. Only the government gets to decide how we spend the rest of our lives, but we do get the choice with whom we spend it with. Only love is out of the equation and you're not allowed to get romantically involved. Well, we all know that doesn't happen in every high school in the US! They must be really naïve to think that teenagers aren't going to hook up until they get matched with a Beau. On a side note, we don't actually have to pay for our Beaus. However, there are different stores that carry different caliber of people. So, if you live in the Bronx you can't go to Etada. The Beaus are chosen from everywhere and class system doesn't factor into it. Their parents may have been dirt poor, but Beaus are like the rest of us. They have to get hired on at a store they're not just handed a job.

"Miss Whitehall… Miss Whitehall," the blonde haired girl with a bob cut pulled me out of my thoughts and I blinked at her.

"I have a list of potential suitors that would be perfect for you," she said and I nodded not paying attention. A tall dark haired man with blue eyes had caught my attention. He was beautiful and I couldn't help, but stare at him. He was impeccably dressed.

"Ma'am is there one you would like to meet," she asked and I didn't look at her. I was fixated on the man standing out formation with the other models.

"Yes, him".

"Him who?" She asked a smile on her face and then reached around me to say what I was looking at and she deflated.

"Who is he?" I asked turning back around in my seat to face her. The office was standard without any personal touches. This was to show just how much our personal lives weren't personal or a choice.

"That's Roman, but he's not on any of your matches. He's also been returned twice. One more time and he'll be swept," she said with seriousness. I didn't care whether he had been returned or not. The fact that he was there meant he hadn't been wedded. Returns we allowed only for a limited time before being wedded and on a case by case after being wedded.

"Has been wedded twice?" I asked out of curiosity, because it was important to know.

"No, only courting and was returned within two weeks. Much earlier than the given time policy," she explained and I nodded intrigued. I wondered why he had been returned.

The Beaus went through school to know how to be the perfect partner for the person that chose them. There was very little choice in the matter, because you were supposed to choose out of your matches. On rare occasions, people chose who weren't on their match list but it was highly discouraged. They didn't want to increase the rate of returns or divorces through incompatibility. It was quite the system.

"I'll take him," I said and the girl looked at me with shock.

"Miss Whitehall, I can't encourage or endorse this. My supervisor will have to approve before he can leave with you," she said dialing a number on her desk, which was a computer.

"Mr. Sandman will be here shortly". With that the chubby blonde girl with bobbed hair left me alone in the static office. I watched her leave and my eyes met Roman's. My heart skipped a beat for the first time in my life and I knew I had to have him. The Beaus were supposed to be alluring, enticing, and mysterious to increase their chances of being bought. They still called them purchases even though we didn't pay any money for them.

Mr. Sandman came in and I stood to shake his hand. He was friendly and had looked like a game show host. I knew was going to try to sell me another man from my match list. Before he could get a word, I told him that it was unnecessary to waste my time and that I wanted Roman.

"If you insist Miss Whitehall, I'll bring him in for interviewing. You have one alone session and one supervised. You may ask him anything you like excluding his past byers that is confidential," he said to me and I signed the waiver.

I unconsciously held my breath as I waited for Roman to enter the office. When he did I rose, gave him my most beautiful smile, and held out my hand. He looked at me with disdain and smirked. The man that I had chosen to be my Beau wasn't going to make the easiest of partners.

* * *

**Hello Fellow Atrian Lovers!**

**I need a new subject line...lol! So, I got this idea in church of all places and thought I would write it. It's a pretty crazy notion and I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think! **

**Love,**

**-H**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The interview session went fast, because Roman didn't say a word during it. He kept the nonchalant, brooding look the whole time. I knew that was how he got bought both times before me. He was gorgeous with his penetrating brown eyes and mop of hair. There was a lot of paperwork and finding out their breeding results. That made her anxious and the results shocked her when Mr. Sandman handed them to her.

"This has more to do with him than you. You should have chosen someone from your match list. If you want children return him and we'll find you a better suitor," Mr. Sandman said as I stared down at the breeding results. _Not Compatible for Breeding_, it said with a detailed explanation that was all bull crap.

"Ok, thank you. If that's all we'll go ahead and leave," I said taking a glance at Roman who expressed no emotion.

After retrieving my receipts and paperwork, I walked with Roman to my BMW. It was the latest model from mom and dad. They also bought me a penthouse so I wouldn't have live on campus. I turned on music in the car, because the silence was unbearable. I didn't know what his problem was, because he was born to be a Beau. Most people didn't mind the job at all, but he either didn't like me or being a Beau. I pulled into the parking garage below my penthouse.

"This is my place," I said as we got off the elevator into a plush foyer where my main door was. I unlocked my penthouse and took off my shoes inside the doorway. Roman did as I did, but still didn't say a word. A smirk covered his face as he looked around my home.

"You have the guest bedroom of course. What?" I asked finally as he stood there in the middle of the living room smirking. He looked at me the way a teacher looks at an over achieving student who has gotten C with pitty.

"Every other one has been the same. Rich and privileged," he said as if it were a crime.

"What did you expect? You worked at the top rated Beau stores in New York. People from the Bronx aren't even allowed in there. You can't hate who I am when you chose to work where I shop," I said taking my purse and setting it on the dining room table before going into my bedroom. I plopped down on my bed wondering what I had gotten myself into. After a moment, I got up and put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I came back out and he was right where I left him.

"I expect to not be bought, but you wouldn't know what that's like princess," he said coming over to me. He was taller than I had thought and towered above me. It was intense to be scrutinized by him, but I didn't back down. I didn't have any more of a choice in the situation than he did and now I couldn't have children.

"You're right, but I didn't get the option of falling in love either. Our society doesn't have choices or freedoms. You can't blame a person for wanting you," I said taking a step back. Our proximity made me light headed and I went into the kitchen.

"Yes, but they give you a list of guys that would be perfect for you. Instead you don't even look at the list," Roman said following me into the open kitchen. "Do you actually cook?"

"I took a risk. I have three months to know if it was a good one or a bad. Then, you get put out to pasture. Were you on the other two girl's match list?" I didn't bother answering his question about cooking as I got out a pan. I had a robot like everyone else, but I like cooking it made me feel accomplished. I also didn't leave my robot on while I wasn't home.

"Yes, I was. However, they weren't on my match list". I didn't know what he meant by that, because Beaus don't matches they got chosen. I boiled a ½ cup of water with butter and then added ½ cup of flour. I wasn't Italian, but I love making homemade Italian food. So, that night I made alfredo sauce and pasta.

"Y'all don't get matches," I said getting out the heavy whipping cream and pouring it into the base.

"We apparently don't get brains either. You're not supposed to be cooking. It's not your career choice," he said with a smirk sitting down at the bar and continued to watch me.

"So, you're the resident bad boy and rebel with a cause. That's why you're for sale at the most elite human-mart in NYC. I get it now. Did they train you to be this way? I can cook if I want too. I may not be allowed to in a restaurant but I can in my own home," I said with defiance while taking two table spoons of ranch dressing and putting it into my sauce.

"No, they didn't train me to be this way. If that were the case I wouldn't have been returned within a week both times. I know women only like the sulking, brooding types for so long. I wasn't born in a cave," he said and I just shook my head at me.

"So princess why did you choose me?" he asked putting his hands behind his back and puffing out his chest. That may have been the very reason why I chose him. I was eighteen after all and no one would blame me.

"I felt a connection and that shouldn't be taken lightly. I don't know anyone who has felt a connection with a Beau before buying them. You seemed different," I said while focusing on my sauce. I wasn't embarrassed, but I didn't want to come across as vulnerable. He laughed and I looked up at him in dismay.

"That's bull crap, but original. I knew you would buy me when you walked in the store. You look and act just like the other two," he said and I finished cooking my dinner in silence. I told the home robot system to turn on music and jazz filled the penthouse. I took my dinner into the dining room without fixing him a plate. If he wants to accuse me like being his other buyer then he would have to provide evidence.

No one liked that way Gloria ran our country, but there was nothing we could do about it. The days of political parties were long gone and even though we voted we didn't choose who got to run for President. Things were a lot different in the United States.

"Aren't going to fix my plate?" Roman asked as I sat eating in silence thinking about the choice I had made. One of the few choices, I got in life and I made the wrong decision. I could return him within three months, but then he would be made in active.

Back in the late 2000s, the government and United Nations decided it was time to do something about the over population. They started out with only allowing people to have two children. People began to protest their freedom and within a year things had changed drastically. It has leveled out over time, but they kept a tight noose around our necks. Now, only certain were allowed to breed at all and we were only supposed to wed those on our match list.

"Princes…I'm waiting," Roman said bringing me out of my thoughts and I looked at him with disgust.

"Get it yourself. Look, I made the wrong choice and I can live with that but if I take you back they'll make you inactive. Do you really want that?" I said finishing my dinner and taking the dirty dishes to the sink. I went to the closet and turned on my robot. Missy came out and I instructed her to clean the kitchen. I needed to take a shower and clear my mind. I was getting a migraine and I needed to get away from Roman.

Roman looked at me with shock for a moment and got up from the bar. He came into the kitchen and stood close to me. "Doesn't mean I have to be ok with it," he said and my heart beat faster. He reached around me for a plate and I swallowed. He wore a smirk when he moved away from me.

"Rot in hell," I said leaving him in my kitchen.

"I already am princess," he said and I slammed my door behind me.


End file.
